The 29-year-old Pakistani clerk, was said to have hidden his phone inside a box of tissues that he placed under the sink and secretly filmed his colleagues undressing inside the washroom in March.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted M.A. of molesting his colleagues and breaching their modesty when he filmed them without their knowledge inside the washroom.

According to the charge sheet, the defendant set his phone on video mode and intentionally kept it inside the washroom to film his colleagues.

The clerk entered a guilty plea.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the accused will be deported following the completion of his jail term.

A Syrian engineer told prosecutors that he discovered the hidden phone while he was using the toilet.

“I noticed something popping out from the box of tissues. When I checked it, it turned out to be a mobile phone. I was startled when I discovered that it was on video mode. I told my boss immediately; it was discovered that the mobile belonged to [the clerk]. When confronted, the clerk alleged that he fixed the phone in the washroom to film women and particularly a Filipina secretary,” claimed the engineer.

A police corporal, who questioned the defendant, testified: “The defendant confessed that he had been secretly filming his colleagues for four months. He admitted that he did it for his personal pleasure.”

The defendant was cited admitting to prosecutors: “On March 25, the Syrian engineer walked towards me and he carried my phone. I had placed the phone in the washroom to film my colleagues. My aim was to film two of my female colleagues, an Arab and a Filipina, while using the washroom. I had been secretly filming my colleagues until I was exposed after a month and a half. I took video footage for 10 minutes; however I used to delete the footage immediately after watching it.”